993inNC

Have you asked those that estimated the stripping to assess the condition of the brick and mortar? It may be the only bonding agent if the building was in a deteriorated shape prior to the paint. The mortar may be loose and the paint hold everything "in"
I would definitely would go with the "light up" from the floor idea. You could flood the walls with light by building a light box across the wall down at trim level and going florescent. The beams look close together so a light every so often may shadow the beams, on the other hand, a constant light across the entire wall may create a cool cross shadow effect within the cavities between the beams. You may also consider a tin ceiling motif in between the beams as a reflecting agent for the light coming up the wall.

993inNC

Ya know I was also thinking.......
Could you not hide a second bedroom in the living room via a sliding partition? Splitting 25' makes for 2 small areas, but if you left what is the second bedroom closet and just created walls when needed, you could enjoy the large living room with a view and plenty of light. Company comes, and the sliding wall unfurls from the end of the closet wall and maybe you build a "hidden bed" (can't recall the proper term at the moment) into the brick wall? You could get dual purpose looking furniture (armoire cabinets) for your use and guest use and a permanent closet would always exist but not be an eye sore.

nile13

Chris, on the second bedroom idea - this is my GF's work space and she needs quite. So the walls need to be there. One thing we are doing - running glass along the top of that bedroom wall (about 12-18" high, right against the beams) so the light comes in and out of that room.

As far as lighting up - I'm thinking. I personally don't like fluorescent lighting. Something incandescent with a wide beam to throw on the wall is a possibility, albeit it needs to be thought out. I was also thinking about copper between the beams, but it will be so expensive as to be prohibitive.

The mortar on the walls should be OK, I think. At least it is in other units in this building. However, we are getting crazy estimated on stripping the beams so far, and the brick... anywhere from $7K for the ceiling to $15K for both. That's not right, is it?

nile13

Cary, Chris, it's a valid point about the architect. Unfortunately a lot of this design is driven by... a plumber of all people. With what he can and can not do. As I'm in NYC and this is all happening in Boston, it hard to control things. Architect made a couple of proposals, but... I'd like to hear as many opinions as I can on what will look best both for us and for future potential buyers some years later.

Petu, I appreciate the lighting ideas. If you could possibly point me to the places that might sell the fixtures you've described, that would be great! Any pictures of the lights, anything would be helpful.

As far as copper piping - it's interesting. Boston's style is red brick, black iron both outside and inside. But copper might look spectacular, I have to investigate that. The issue is that we don't want to replace/move the pipes themselves, otherwise a tremendous amount of hassle with fire department will ensue that will last for a couple of month before they approve and stamp everything.

Flying Finn

Mike,

Just type "Architectural lighting" on google and start searcing....

Here's 1st thing that came up:http://www.archlighting.com/

They seem to have a lot of different products (links to manufacturers) but the best would be to talk to the people in Boston (the architect?) and ask what sources they use.

But if you have time, on-line you can find everything. If you find something that looks interesting but you're not sure or need to "check" it or have ideas, shoot me an PM and we can discuss in more detail.

BTW, I like Chris' idea of tin ceiling panels (between beams). Put some copper or brass stamped panels in there, cover those fire pipes in copper and you're really starting to look cool.

I agree on fluorescent with you though, fluorescent is good for a workplace, office or something but it doesn't look good at all in interiors.

993inNC

Let it be known I'm not a huge flour. fan either. It is however a cost effective way to light long lengths of wall and could be hidden in a baseboard trim box. "string light" like what you put under cabinets isn't nearly bright enough, so......?
You need to find a way to light up into the beams to make them go away (since they are so low). Copper would be cool but expensive, tin would be cool to and would reflect light. You can buy paints these days that look like copper, maybe a cheap solution for the pipes.

This may sound nuts, but in my little propane business shop, we have corrugated tin on the walls about half way up (like wainscot) and I get more compliments from it. Can't take the credit for the idea, the previous owner did it........really looks cool. Its industrial looking, clean and is replaceable if damaged. You may consider it for a ceiling treatment?

nile13

Petu, thank you very much for lighting suggestions, I'll be looking at them tomorrow. Have more time than resources, so it's a good compromise

Chris, could you show me what corrugated tin looks like? I've looked at the stamped copper sheets, but considering that you have to cut them into thin strips and every strip will be different and needs to be measured and re-measured, I'm afraid it's not in the cards.

Lighting up is an interesting idea. My concern is that with 16" high beams there will be a whole bunch of interference patterns everywhere. One thought is track or wires up there and some sort of fixtures hanging off them level with the bottoms of the beams. But if I can avoid that I'd like to.

993inNC

Think tin roofing Mike. I'll be at the shop tomorrow and will try to remember to take a few shots so you can see what I mean. It really is cool in my context, you may have to figure out how to make it work for you. I would use it perpendicular to the beams (between them).
In any case, it would be a way to to spice up the beam pockets, it should be a much more cost effective way than copper ceiling tins, etc.....
I think it comes 3x8 (the 8 foot side being parallel the humps) so you'd cut it up into your beam pocket widths (3'x16"?).

nile13

I really like the idea of stuffing some nice reflective material between the beams. I'll talk to my contractor about it. The biggest concern is that the beams are literally all over the place, they are all different size, different width and some are a little, shall we say, angled. I'm just imagining trying to line things up...

DougM

DOn't know if you have decided on flooring but I have used Bella Cera handscraped stained maple in my last 3 houses. It is solid and 4.5" and comes in a few shades from light to dark. I get it for about $4.50/sq ft

nile13

Doug, where do you buy it? Sounds pretty good to me! Google mostly showing Bella Cera tiles, not hardwood.

Also, is it really distressed? How is it in everyday use? I assume you liked it

993inNC

The beauty is, it doesn't matter what's wrong with the beams since the tin will be between whatever you have going on, so its just a matter of cutting the appropriate with of the beam pocket. You'll put it up by lapping the last "hump" or "trough" and scewing together with small sheet metal screws (or I suppose you could rivet it for a real industrial look).

Flying Finn

Mike,

I quickly googled some lights and came up to a light we put in our kitchen. I like this kind of "industrial" looking spots where you see the wire etc.

For Chris' tin ceiling idea which I like, you can check and there are a ton of different available. Not like what the photo in his post but something like the photo below.

For "washing" the wall with lights, I prefer individual spots (as in the photo I showed) because then you have also shadows. But if you prefer continuos lighting (for this or something else), you can nowadays get very strong LED continuous lights so you don't have to go with fluorescent which you didn't like either. But like I said, I'd prefer individual spots.

nile13

Guys, the copper I've looked at is something like this: http://www.rensup.com/Details.cfm?pid=19846 Is that the right stuff? At $169 per 4 square fee I'm afraid it'll get out of hand budget-wise very quickly. I think I'll need about 600+ square feet, plus it has to be cut unevenly to be installed in between the beams, many of which do not especially parallel to each other. It's much more reasonable here, I guss, at about $20 per 2'x2' tile... Hmmm... The other question would be ow to but them if there is, say 13-16" between the beams.

Or is there something else I should be looking at?

Petu, that last pic of LED lights - is this a rope light running along the top of the wall. It's an interesting idea, I like it. Need to look at LED lights in more detail. Once I've seen where more accent type lights, low power.

993inNC

here's how the tin was used at my place Mike